It Was Only A Movie
by Michelle Loves Chocolate 99
Summary: I heard voices around me, one I recognized as my brother's but the other I didn't know. I didn't even understand what they were saying, or who the other person was. I didn't even know where I was or how I had gotten there, I just knew that something bad had happened. Two-shot! Complete!
1. Part One: Dream

_****_**Hello! First things first, this is my first story for the Outsiders, so please review and tell me what you think(like it/hate it etc). Second, this story will have two maybe three chapters. It depends on how the second chapter turns out, I'm almost done writing it, and hope to have it up tomorrow or sometime later this week. Third, if anything doesn't make since in this chapter, it will be cleared up in the next part. Lastly, please excuse grammar issues. I had typed this chapter bit by bit and didn't have much time to do proof reading, so I am sorry if there is any in this chapter. **

**Disclamier: I do not own the Outsiders or any of the characters.**

**Enjoy!**

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_**It Was Only A Movie…**_

**Chapter One**

I heard voices around me, one I recognized as my brother's but the other I didn't know. I didn't even understand what they were saying, or who the other person was. I didn't even know where I was or how I had gotten there, I just knew that something bad had happened. But not knowing what was killing me.

_**~~A Few Hours Earlier~~**_

_I sat on the couch hugging my backpack as Soda's arm was thrown over my shoulder. Darry sat in the armchair, and didn't dare to met either mine, or my other brother's gaze. He was too ashamed, and he was filled with guilt. I didn't blame him, if I were him, I would have felt the same way._

_The house was too still, and too quiet. Two-Bit and Steve didn't even dare to come over and try to lighten the mood, but then again no one could, not unless they owned a time machine. No one wanted to admit what was happening was real, and that was part of the reason Two-Bit and Steve never visited us that day and never told us goodbye. I wished they had though._

_I glanced at the clock on the wall as I heard a car come to a stop outside of the house, and seconds later heard the engine turn off. It was only two fifty, she was ten minutes early! Ten minutes that I could have spent longer in my own home._

_Darry stood as the lady knocked on the door, still not daring to look at Soda and I. He opened the door, and Soda and I stood up. I didn't listen to their conversation. After about five minutes, the social worker, gave Soda and I a gentle look._

"_You got everything?" she asked the two of us in a soft kind tone of voice. Soda nodded his head speaking for the both of us._

"_Very well then, we have a long drive ahead of us. We must get going." She turned towards Darry. "I'll give you a call tomorrow Darrel. C'mon boys!"_

_I followed Soda out the door as I swung my backpack over my shoulders as the lady gestured us to leave. I would never forget the look planted on Darry's face when I glanced back. It was filled with pain and sorrow, and it broke my heart. I had never seen that look on Darry before that day and I was sure I never wanted to see that look on him again._

_I never quite understood why everything bad happens to us. Just because we're greasers doesn't mean we are always tough one hundred percent of the time. We all break at some point. It was proven when Dallas cried for Johnny- the only person he ever cared for died. We aren't as tough as we seem. Deep down inside, we are just an average person trying to make it in the world. What makes us greasers different is that we have to try harder and we never get any breaks, especially my family. _

_I looked over at Soda, he sat on the other side of the back seat, with nothing but two backpacks separating us. I knew he was trying to stay strong, for my sake, but I could see it in his eyes he was going to burst into tears any second. That's why I didn't say anything to him. We both didn't say a word the whole ride._

_I scared me how still Soda had been back at the house, and in the car. I wasn't used to him acting this way. I was just waiting for him to smile at me and tell me everything was going to be okay, but that never came. I had nearly jumped when the social worker turned the ignition off. I didn't realize we were already there. I unbuckled my seatbelt and placed my hand on the door handle and looked at my brother. He still hadn't moved._

"_Soda?" He turned his head to look at me after he snapped out of whatever was going on through his head. His eyes were no longer dancing like they usually did, and I was even more concerned. _

"_Huh?" _

"_We're here." The seventeen year old grabbed his backpack and pushed the door opened. I felt like he was ignoring me, like Darry was back at the house. I understood Darry's reason, but not Sodapop's. I tried to ignore the fact that I was the only one keeping my cool which was very unusual as I got out of the car myself and then followed the lady into the building that was now the home of my brother and I no matter how much we wanted to deny it. _

_Following the social worker's path, Soda suddenly stopped in front of me, his eyes still depressed. He placed his hands on my shoulders gentle shaking me._

"_Ponyboy, wake up!"_

o0o

My eyes fluttered opened to look up into Soda's eyes. I was relieved to see his happy-go-lucky grin as he shook me awake, however, I was not happy to have been woken up.

I gripped the blanket it and pulled it over my head. "It's summer Soda, I want to sleep in."

I knew he wasn't waking me up due to my dream. My dream was scary, but it wasn't frightening enough to make me scream and toss and turn all over the bed, plus it was daylight outside and Soda was dressed in is DX uniform. I was _fine_ right?

"Alright. I'll save you some breakfast then. Darry and I are leaving in about twenty minutes. Two-Bit probably won't be over until he finally decides to roll out of bed."

"Yeah yeah yeah…" I mumbled sleepily. "I'll see you when you get home."

Soda left my room, but I couldn't fall back asleep. Steve, Darry, and him kept talking in the kitchen, and the house wasn't quiet again until the three left for their jobs. And by the time they left, I was wide awake. So I rolled out of bed got dressed, and entered the kitchen to eat.

I was the first day of summer vacation, and once I had exited my room, it came to my mind that this was probably going to be the most boring one of all because Johnny was never going to be around. It was just going to be me a Two-Bit, not that Two-Bit was boring, but he could never replace Johnny Cade. Johnny was my best friend.

It wasn't until I heard a knock on the front door that brought back to reality, but at the same time, it drew me back to my dream when the social worker came to our house. I hesitated to get up. Nobody knocks on our door, nobody besides Two-Bit and Steve ever come to our house, so who could be knocking on the door, especially at eight in the morning?

I was scared, nervous, and curious at the same time, but curiosity seemed to have weighed the scale more, so I stood from my chair and headed to the living room and saw a familiar face through the screen door-Tim Shepard. I didn't understand what could've brought the leader of the Shepards Gang to my house, but that didn't stop me from opening the door.

"Hey Tim."

"Hey kid, is your brother around?"

I shrugged. "Which one?"

"The big one."

"No, you just missed him. He left for work 'bout ten minutes ago."

Tim nodded. "Thanks kid, tell him I stopped by."

I watched the cat-like hoodlum walk down the steps of my stairs and head down the sidewalk towards the street, where he had begun his journey to some other place. I was a bit curious of why Tim Shepard was looking for Darry. I mean it wasn't everyday that something like this ever happened, but that was the least of problems.

o0o

Two-Bit came by at two, and honestly, we were both bored out of our minds. We didn't have Dally or Johnny to hang with like we didn't last summer. It's amazing to actually think that your whole life could change just that quickly, but it does. Even though it had been a just a little over a year since my parents died, and almost a year since Johnny and Dallas died, I still haven't gotten used to it. I don't think I ever actually will. One thing I sure did get used to though was the fact that the gang rivalry between greasers and Socs has calmed down not long after I went to court.

Two-Bit threw his hand in the air and cards were all over the floor, his face filled with frustration. I'm not sure if it was because he had a bad hand, or if he was bored of the game, either way was fine by me, this was the millionth time we play cards today."I quit! Let's go do something fun!"

I hopped to my feet. "I can't get into any trouble Two-Bit and you know it!"

"Geez kid, you know I didn't mean it like that!" Two-Bit headed towards the door, and I knew for a fact he did mean it like that and so did he. "Let's go catch a movie. I bet if we leave right now we can be back before either of your brothers come back for work."

I shrugged. What harm could it have done? It was only a movie. I ran into my room and grabbed some money from the top drawer in my dresser before following Two-Bit out the door.

What could go wrong? It was only a movie.


	2. Part Two: Hospital

_**It Was Only A Movie…**_

**Chapter Two**

I heard voices around me, one I recognized as my brother's but the other I didn't know. I didn't even understand what they were saying, or who the other person was. I didn't even know where I was or how I had gotten there, I just knew that something bad had happened. But not knowing what was killing me.

The last thing I remembered was stepping off the porch of my house following Two-Bit. After that, everything went black. Where am I? What happened? Why am I here?

My eyelids were heavy, but I forced them opened no matter how much I wanted to take a nap. White walls surrounded me and I saw Darry talking to a nurse. A nurse? I'm in a hospital bed. I tried to speak, but my mouth was so dry I couldn't even get the words to come out loud enough to where anyone could hear me.

The nurse's blue eyes looked at me to find out noticed I was awake. They sparkled and danced the same way Soda's eyes always had. "Oh, good evening sweetie, how do you feel?" she asked in a very cheery voice. Darry walked closer to my bed and sat down on a chair, waiting for my response.

I cleared my throat. "My head hurts."

She nodded. "That is to be expected. You sure hit your head pretty hard. Do you know your name? What day is it today? Why you are here?"

"Ponyboy, it's Saturday, and I don't have any idea why I'm here."

She scribbled down on her clipboard for a second before looking back at my with her cheerful warming smile. "I'll go get you something for your head. I'll be back in a sec!"

The happy nurse left the room, and I turned my head towards Darry. "What happened?"

"You and Two-Bit got jumped, that's what happened." Darry's eyes weren't ice, but his voice wasn't gentle. He was angry, but he wasn't angry at me. "You got a concussion and a few bruises, Two-Bit didn't get too hurt, but the two of you were severely outnumbered."

I nodded my head, but before I could say anything the nurse entered the room, with a glass of water and a tiny plastic bowl which contained a pill. "This should help your headache," she said and walked away.

I swallowed the pill, and drank all the water from the cup. It felt so good as it rushed down my dry throat. "Where's Soda?"

"He's on his way over. I just called him twenty minutes ago so he should be here any minute."

"Tim Shepard stopped by about ten minutes after you left for work this morning. He was looking for you."

My oldest sibling nodded his head. "Yes. I know. He called me at during lunch break. I'm surprised he didn't tell you…" Darry shook his head as he trailed off.

"Tell me what?"

"It's startin' again-the violence. He came by to warn me. Said one of the Brumly boys got horribly beaten up last night, and one of his guys this morning. You and Two-Bit seemed to become their third victims. But you don't have to worry about them anymore. It was the same group of Socs that did the jumpings, they were arrested right outside the movie theater. You two got lucky the fuzz showed up when they did."

I let out a sigh. "I'm sorry Darry. Two-Bit and I got lonely and bored so we were going to go see a movie."

Darry brushed my hair off my forehead. "Don't be. It ain't your fault! You and Two-Bit didn't know you'd get jumped."

The two of us sat in silence for a few moments-wait scratch that. The two of us sat in silence for a few minutes. Things between Darry and I haven't changed much over the past few months. For Soda's sake, we get along a little better and don't fight as much, or at least when he's not around. Darry and I still aren't very close, he's still the same old Darry and I'm still the same old Pony. The only thing that broke the awkward silence that filled the hospital room was Sodapop running through the doors.

"Ponyboy! Are you alright?" He raced to my bedside faster than I ever seen Soda run in my entire life.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Soda immediately looked at Darry as if he didn't believe my answer.

Darry nodded his head. "He's fine, just a concussion. Doctor wants to keep him for a few more hours to make sure he's alright but he can go home after that."

Soda nodded and took a seat in the chair next to Darry. I closed my eyes for a second and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

I woke up about two hours later, and left the hospital. When we got home, Steve was passed out on the couch. Soda threw a blanket over him before following me to bed. Lucky for me this time, I was too exhausted to have any weird dreams or nightmares.

o0o

Neither of my brothers work on Sundays. So today wasn't going to be as long and boring like yesterday, or at least the part of yesterday that I could remember. Steve was already gone before I woke up, but to my surprise, Two-Bit was in the house making breakfast with Soda-actually Soda made breakfast. Two-Bit just joked around.

I didn't realized how many bruises Two-Bit had until I sat down at the kitchen table. I guess that was better than having a concussion though. My head was still throbbing, but it wasn't as bad as yesterday. In fact it barely even hurt.

"Hey kid, sorry I left the hospital right after they checked me out. I didn't feel like hanging around."

I shrugged. "It's cool." I didn't blame him. I would've done the same thing if I were him. The last time I knew he was at the hospital was the time he took me to see Dally and Johnny just hours before Johnny had died. I would have wanted to leave that place as soon as I possibly could.

Darry came in fully dressed with wet hair about five minutes later. I guess he just got out of the shower. "Hey kiddo, how you feelin'?"

"Better." I told him the truth, but he didn't seem to believe me just like Soda didn't last night.

"Does your head hurt?"

I sighed. I was a little annoyed. "Barely. I'm okay Darry. I promise."

Darry grabbed a bottle that sat on the counter next to a lot of papers that the hospital had given us last night before we left. He handed my a pill- the same one I was given yesterday by that nurse. But before I took the pill, there was a knock on the door that made everyone in the house exchange looks. Like I said before, nobody ever knocks on our door.

Darry started for the living room, and Two-Bit, Soda, and I stood in the kitchen doorway watching Darry open the door. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was our social worker Ms. Carter. The three of us couldn't hear what was being said, but it went awfully quick. When Darry headed back to the kitchen, we rushed back to our positions and pretended that we didn't attempt to eavesdrop.

Darry took his usual seat at the table. His head rested in his hands hiding his face from us like a turtle with it's head popped inside it's shell. I looked up at Two-Bit and Soda, both had the same concerned look on their face like I had.

Soda set breakfast on the table a moment later. He gulped before speaking. He was both scared and nervous at the same time. "Darry, what's wrong." It was more of a command than a question.

Darry looked up from his hands. He was trying his best to keep his cool. He was doing a pretty good job at it too, but I can see it in his eyes that he was angry or upset maybe a mixture of both? "That was Ms. Carter. She doesn't believe this is a good neighborhood for you two to be raised in because of the incident in the park, and now what had happened yesterday."

I looked back at Soda, and he looked at me. He gulped again. "Does that mean…" Soda's voice trailed off not wanting to finish the sentence as his face paled. It was everybody's worst nightmare coming to life.

"Yes. You two are leaving tomorrow at three."

o0o

The dream I had the other night was by far the weirdest dream I had ever had. I had weird dreams, very terrifying dreams, and sometimes even happy and peaceful dreams, but that dream is the one I would never forget because what occurred in that dream was the exact same thing that had happened the next day. It was like I had a premonition.

It felt horrible seeing that heartbreaking look on Darry's face, and Sodapop's sad, not dancing eyes again, and I could only blame myself for it. It was all my fault! I shouldn't have gone to go see that movie. Only if I knew, I wouldn't have, but I didn't, so I went.

I found it funny how this whole thing happened because of the dumb movies. Darry was right; movies are stupid! If I never went with Johnny and Dally that night, none of them would be dead right now, and I wouldn't have almost drowned at that park. If Two-Bit didn't get so frustrated with cards and wanted to see a movie to calm down, we would have never gotten jumped on our walk to the theater. Movies aren't suppose to cause harm. They may make you cry or get scared, but they don't cause you to get taken away from your home! It was strangely funny how it was only a movie that caused this.

It was only a movie.

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**I hope you enjoyed! I MAY make a sequel to this which would be a for length story, but i am having trouble researching things about homes and foster care. So if I somehow find what I need with in the next few weeks I'll make one, but only if you guys want me to.**

**Another thing about research, I couldn't find a lot about concussions. Well I did, but it wasn't the stuff I exactly needed so I used all my knowledge on medical stuff(which isn't a lot) and the things I got from my research and used my imagination to guess what it would be like. So I am sorry if my research is wrong. I hope you will be able to avoid that.**

**One last thing, thanks for the favorites, follows, and the reviews! I means a lot to me! Please review though, I haven't decided if I'll right anymore stories for Outsiders, should I or should I not?**

**-Michelle Loves Chocolate 99**


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